Top effective operators at the ILC

We investigate the effect of top trilinear operators in t tbar production at the ILC. We find that the sensitivity to these operators largely surpasses the one achievable by the LHC either in neutral or charged current processes, allowing to probe new physics scales up to 4.5 TeV for a centre of mass energy of 500 GeV. We show how the use of beam polarisation and an eventual energy upgrade to 1 TeV allow to disentangle all effective operator contributions to the Ztt and gamma tt vertices.Comment: LaTeX 13 pages. Typos corrected. Final version in JHE

Top effective operators at the ILC

We investigate the effect of top trilinear operators in t tbar production at the ILC. We find that the sensitivity to these operators largely surpasses the one achievable by the LHC either in neutral or charged current processes, allowing to probe new physics scales up to 4.5 TeV for a centre of mass energy of 500 GeV. We show how the use of beam polarisation and an eventual energy upgrade to 1 TeV allow to disentangle all effective operator contributions to the Ztt and gamma tt vertices.Comment: LaTeX 13 pages. Typos corrected. Final version in JHE

Shedding light on the ttˉt \bar t asymmetry: the photon handle

We investigate a charge asymmetry in $t \bar t \gamma$ production at the LHC that provides complementary information to the measured asymmetries in $t \bar t$ production. We estimate the experimental uncertainty in its measurement at the LHC with 8 and 14 TeV. For new physics models that simultaneously reproduce the asymmetry excess in $t \bar t$ at the Tevatron and the SM-like asymmetry at the LHC, the measurement in $t \bar t \gamma$ at the LHC could exhibit significant deviations with respect to the SM prediction.Comment: LaTeX 15 page

A 300-800MHz Tunable Filter and Linearized LNA applied in a Low-Noise Harmonic-Rejection RF-Sampling Receiver

A multiband flexible RF-sampling receiver aimed at software-defined radio is presented. The wideband RF sampling function is enabled by a recently proposed discrete-time mixing downconverter. This work exploits a voltage-sensing LNA preceded by a tunable LC pre-filter with one external coil to demonstrate an RF-sampling receiver with low noise figure (NF) and high harmonic rejection (HR). The second-order LC filter provides voltage pre-gain and attenuates the source noise aliasing, and it also improves the HR ratio of the sampling downconverter. The LNA consists of a simple amplifier topology built from inverters and resistors to improve the third-order nonlinearity via an enhanced voltage mirror technique. The RF-sampling receiver employs 8 times oversampling covering 300 to 800 MHz in two RF sub-bands. The chip is realized in 65 nm CMOS and the measured gain across the band is between 22 and 28 dB, while achieving a NF between 0.8 to 4.3 dB. The IIP2 varies between +38 and +49 dBm and the IIP3 between -14 dBm and -9 dBm, and the third and fifth order HR ratios are more than 60 dB. The LNA and downconverter consumes 6 mW, and the clock generator takes 12 mW at 800 MHz RF.\ud \u

PhD supervisors and faculty members might help to avoid burnout as well as enhance engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among PhD students.

There has been increased interest in the wellbeing and mental health of postgraduate students in light of the recent portrayal of the academic career as overworked and isolated. Research points to PhD students as being particularly at risk, yet the factors that contribute to PhD students’ compromised wellbeing are unclear. In this study (N = 392), we combine the social cure approach in social psychology with advances in organizational psychology to investigate potential predictors of work-related wellbeing and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among PhD studentsin the UK. In particular, we explore the relationships between social support, willingness to support others, clarity of role, group belonging, engagement, and burnout using structural equation modelling (SEM). Our results point to the importance of support provided by both the supervisor and faculty members in helping to avoid burnout and enhance engagement among students. We also found that students’ identification with supervisors and faculty members together with clarity of role are positively associated with students’ work-related well-being. Moreover, although particular processes differ for early vs. late stage PhD students, our findings suggest that support from faculty members is a key predictor of intentions to perform OCB. Thus, received support is positively related to performing OCB both directly and indirectly via a sense of identification with faculty members. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to policies aiming at improving the well-being of PhD students

Electroweak constraints on warped models with custodial symmetry

It has been recently argued that realistic models with warped extra dimensions can have Kaluza-Klein particles accessible at the Large Hadron Collider if a custodial symmetry, SU(2)_V \times P_{LR}, is used to protect the T parameter and the coupling of the left-handed bottom quark to the Z gauge boson. In this article we emphasize that such a symmetry implies that the loop corrections to both the T parameter and the Z b_L \bar{b}_L coupling are calculable. In general, these corrections are correlated, can be sizable, and should be considered to determine the allowed parameter space region in models with warped extra dimensions and custodial symmetry, including Randall-Sundrum models with a fundamental Higgs, models of gauge-Higgs unification and Higgsless models. As an example, we derive the constraints that arise on a representative model of gauge-Higgs unification from a global fit to the precision electroweak observables. A scan over the parameter space typically leads to a lower bound on the Kaluza-Klein excitations of the gauge bosons of about 2-3 TeV, depending on the configuration. In the fermionic sector one can have Kaluza-Klein excitations with masses of a few hundred GeV. We present the constraints on these light fermions from recent Tevatron searches, and explore interesting discovery channels at the LHC.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figure

Experimental scheme for unambiguous discrimination of linearly independent symmetric states

We propose an optimal discrimination scheme for a case of four linearly independent nonorthogonal symmetric quantum states, based on linear optics only. The probability of discrimination is in agreement with the optimal probability for unambiguous discrimination among N symmetric states [Phys. Lett. A \textbf{250}, 223 (1998)]. The experimental setup can be extended for the case of discrimination among $2^M$ nonorthogonal symmetric quantum states

Constraints on Mass Spectrum of Fourth Generation Fermions and Higgs Bosons

We reanalyze constraints on the mass spectrum of the chiral fourth generation fermions and the Higgs bosons for the standard model (SM4) and the two Higgs doublet model (THDM). We find that the Higgs mass in the SM4 should be larger than roughly the fourth generation up-type quark mass, while the light CP even Higgs mass in the THDM can be smaller. Various mass spectra of the fourth generation fermions and the Higgs bosons are allowed. The phenomenology of the fourth generation models is still rich.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures; some points clarified, references added, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Nudging Youth to Develop Savings Habits: Experimental Evidence Using SMS Messages

In this working paper, we report on a field experiment articulating financial information via cellphone text messages and financial decisions among low-income youth in Colombia. For twelve months, youth accountholders are randomly assigned to receive either: (a) monthly financial education messages, (b) monthly savings reminders, (c) semimonthly reminders, or (d) control. After 12 months, account balances in monthly and semimonthly reminders groups increase by 28% and 43%, respectively, relative to controls. Financial education messages do not increase balances. Over two thirds of balance increases in reminder groups are net savings. Savings effects of reminders last eight months after youth stop receiving messages